Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
OSCAR SERRATOS, the Mexi-can pilot of a private aircraft that was seized at the Sangster International Airport with nearly 700 lb of cocaine in October, 2003, was yesterday sentenced to eight years in prison and fined $1 million in the Montego Bay Resident Magis-trate's Court.
His attorneys indicated yesterday that they would be appealing the sentence.
"There simply was not enough evidence to convict him," Peter Champagnie, one of Serratos' lawyers told The Gleaner after his client was convicted. "We are taking this to the Court of Appeal today."
In handing down the sentence, Resident Magistrate for St. James, Carolyn Tie, described Serratos as "deceptive and not truthful" concerning the drug, which was found behind three panels in the baggage section of the aircraft.
She said Serratos was guilty on the basis that only he had a key to the baggage area and had given a "false sense of urgency" to investigating officers searching the aircraft by stating that he should be leaving the island before nightfall.
GUILTY OF ALL CHARGES
She further stated that Serratos had told the court that only the mechanic was in charge of the baggage area, something he never told the investigating officers when the aircraft was being searched.
"The court found that he had knowledge of the cocaine and is guilty of all charges," Ms. Tie concluded.
Serratos and three other men, all Mexicans, were arrested on October 14, 2003 after their Air Commander private jet they had arrived in was searched and the cocaine found. The other men were acquitted in June.
Mr. Champagnie told the court that his client had a clean criminal record and that his incarceration might cause "severe damage" to his family. He further stated that Serratos was a victim of the recent riot at the Montego Bay lock-up
